Party Line Voting and the Absence of Reality.

In a few days those of us Americans that take our responsibilities as citizens seriously will go to our respective polling places and vote.  Hopefully before we do we have throughly researched the candidates, and have made a decision based on criteria that each of us as an individual places importance on.

Unfortunately this is usually not the case.  Many voters that I speak with state that they usually vote party lines, in effect trusting that a politicians decision to align themselves with one of two major political parties is enough information to base their vote on.  This seems extremely lazy and irresponsible to me.

While everyone has the right to place their vote as they see fit, I do question the rationality of this decision.

During the last few years we have heard a lot about the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats.  These self described Democrats believe in what most people would assume to be Republican ideals.  How can this be, all Democrats are Liberals, right?

In July-August of 2009 Gallup polled 47,000 Americans to see how they classified themselves politically.  Only 25% of  those polled classified themselves White non-Hispanic liberal Democrats, while only 23% classified themselves White Conservative Republicans.  Amazingly 6% of those polled stated they were White Conservative Democrats, and 11% White moderate-liberal Republicans.  

The percentages are based on the entire 47,000 polled of which 25% were Hispanic, Black, and Asian/other and were only listed in the percentages by only their races.  According to Gallup's website "(The ideology and partisanship of blacks, Hispanics, and other ethnic and racial groups will be examined in future Gallup analyses.)"  You can see the full results here:  http://www.gallup.com/poll/122672/conservative-democrats-liberal-republicans-hard-to-find.aspx

What this poll shows me is that party line voting does not assure that your ideals are necessarily being represented.  Less than 50% of the polled classified themselves according to the widely believed convention of Liberal Democrats and Conservative Republicans.  While this poll does not, in my opinion,  give  a complete and accurate analysis of the populations political affiliation, it does prove that there are no givens in politics.

All through history both major parties have had members that classified themselves as Conservative, Moderate, and Liberal.  Add to this the whimsical changing of parties and affiliations by politicians and you should be able to see how easily you can mistakenly vote for someone that you would not directly vote for if you were informed.

Based on these facts I submit that there is no one party that can meet all of anyone's needs for representation.  Each candidate is an individual just as you are, and each has their own beliefs and opinions.  We should be voting based on our individual criteria of the candidates merits, experience, background, and whether or not they would be appropriate for the position they are applying for.  

If you are attempting to vote for a candidate that shares your ideals based on their political party you may be in for a BIG surprise; the number of politicians that vote in opposition to their supposed beliefs would amaze you.  If you don't believe me, just watch the commercials during primaries.  The opponent is more than happy to tell you all of the candidate's inconsistencies.

For those of you that do care, please take a few minutes and really research each candidate carefully. You may be surprised.

Alternative Gardening and the path to Happiness.

Tonight I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about
alternative gardening.  The more we talked about options for growing
food in the winter months the more memories from my childhood kept
flooding back.

I have loved to garden since I was a kid.  I used to plant flowers and
vegetables outside in the spring, and in the winters I would grow cold
weather vegetables indoors in our abandoned fish tanks.  There was
nothing better than eating a radish or some leafy spinach that was
growing in my own bedroom, I thought it was cool at 10 and I still
think its cool now.

No matter where I lived, or whom I lived with I loved to be outside
helping something grow.  This is something that I still enjoy, but
don't take seriously enough.  I grow some vegetables and do some
canning but nothing on a grand scale.  


I was startled at just how happy I was thinking back on my garden 
this year, watching the plants grow in my mind.  Even with all of the
weeding and watering I always feel better when working in my garden.

You see, I believe that we as humans are not meant to work
in offices for hours a day, constantly being attacked with
information, requests, demands, menial tasks and the such just to
start it all over again the next day.  Where is the satisfaction of
seeing something concrete completed?  Where is the physical proof of
progress, I submit that for many of us there is non.  One well placed
lightning strike could completely erase the so called "jobs" that we
spend our lives on everyday, how sad.

Lets use a farmer as an example for how I believe we are meant to
live, (you can substitute a carpenter, brick layer, ditch digger or
any other profession that creates something using their hands).  The
farmer works very hard.  Everyday there are chores, everyday.  You all
know what farmers do so I will stop the details there.

Now I know that for every job there is someone tired of doing it, but
the farmer has something that most of us do not have, reflection.  At
the end of the day  they are tired, they are dirty, they are ready to
quit for the day, but they also have accomplished something real.
Real animals are cared for, real crops planted or harvested.  They can
see actual progress and they have actual proof of their
accomplishments.

They also have the luxury of others being able to see their progress.
Can you show with the waive of your hand what you did at your job
today?

Don't start with the "My job is important and necessary" arguments.
Is it really?  


Come on there is no one here to impress, just me and you.  
If your job ended tomorrow would anyone miss it?  


If you can not honestly say yes then you should consider what the friend I mentioned
at the beginging of this has asked me on more than one occasion.
(Sorry Joe if I don't get this perfect.)

"If money was not an issue, and if you could have any job in the
world, what job would make you the happiest?"

Now with that answer in mind, how do we get you there?

Aiding in the decline of morality via commercials.

"Lying is the foundation of a certain kind of comedy" - Not so anonymous (My wife has some good ones!)

Television commercials are a staple in our society.  While there are numerous ways for companies to advertise their products and services, the iconic television commercial allows companies to reach the public at large like nothing else.  The direct targeting of the desired customer base makes this form of advertising even more attractive to the advertisers.  While it is easy to understand that companies have to constantly refresh the commercials in order to keep us interested, I have a problem with some of the decisions that are being made.

While watching a very popular children's television show with my kids, a commercial for a very popular name brand of laundry detergent aired.  The commercial started with a teenage daughter asking her mother if she had seen a certain favorite shirt.  The mother responded by saying something to the effect that the shirt was not her type.  The commercial then goes into a flashback of the mother wearing the shirt during a night out with her friends.  The mother finds the shirt (complete with stain from the night out), washes the shirt with the advertisers detergent and then replaces the shirt into her daughters closet.

There is another laundry detergent commercial that shows a father and his children eating BBQ at the dining room table.  The children express concern that thier mother will not be happy with the fathers decision to eat BBQ as the mother does not seem to approve.  As the father is eating the sandwich he spills sauce on his wifes table cloth, the children express concern that the mother will be upset again.  After explaing that he has a secret weapon, he shows the children how to clean the table cloth with the advertisers product.

Here is the problem, both of these commercials show a parent lying to someone that is supposed to be significant in their lives.  Lying, hiding the truth, covering up mistakes, and even asking children to hide things from the other parent (as in the second commercial), do nothing but show children that respect, love, and truthfulness holds no place in adult behaviour.

This type of behaviour is common place in sitcoms and movies, but how does this help sell soap?  There is another question that comes to mind when I see these and similar commercials.  If these companies are encouraging untruthfulness, how can we as consumers trust that the companies are being honest with us?  I believe the commercials they use prove to us that honesty is not important to them. They are asking us to purchase their product based on the trust that their product can perform as advertised. How does this form of advertising encourage us to believe any claims they may have?

I have not included the names of the companies involved on purpose.  I would rather have you, my reader, see for yourself. There are many more examples of innapropriate behaviour included than I care to even go over.

The companies involved should be ashamed of themselves and should not be trusted.  I cannot help but wonder what they are teaching their own children at home.

As I was explaining my objection to the commercials above my wife gave me the quote that I started this article with, she made an exceptional point.  A certain type of company, a certain type of personality, a certain type of morality, and none of them very honorable.

If you want to see the commercials here is a link to the lying mother one, I cannot seem to find the other one on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CREzffQNZDg